Posts tagged with “music”

February 03

Here is an amusing proof-of-concept for sonification (turning data into audio). Many artists, including Robert Hodgin have been successfully playing with visualization (turning music into visuals), but I’ve been really curious about generating audio dynamically based off of data. My personal interest is to use snippets of actual text drawn from pieces of fiction to create its own soundtrack.

But now, Johannes Kreidler, with the help of Microsoft Songsmith, have shown that the first nut is cracked.

(Thanks to Ben Fry for the link.)

12:22 PM | 0 Comments | Tags: , ,
January 19

Incognito violinist

<p>My dad sent me this as an email FW. I haven't researched it's truth yet. It's not exactly surprising, however unfortunte that is. More than anything, I'm surprised that the organizers were able to keep the lid on it enough for it to work. I mean, the guy's gotta have fans, right?</p><p> </p><blockquote><p> A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.<br /><br />Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.<br /><br />A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.<br /><br />A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. <br /><br />The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.<br /><br />In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. <br /><br />No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.<br /><br />Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.<br /><br />This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?<br /><br />One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:<br /><br />If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?</p></blockquote>
12:38 PM | 6 Comments | Tags: , ,
October 23
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This is almost too fantastic for words. A banjo player helping guide neurosurgeons by playing the banjo while under the knife. Thank you BoingBoing.
10:32 AM | 0 Comments | Tags: , , , ,
September 23
<object width="440" height="247"> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> <param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1747316&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /> <embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1747316&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="440" height="247"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/1747316?pg=embed&sec=1747316">Metamorphosis</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user656427?pg=embed&sec=1747316">Glenn Marshall</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com?pg=embed&sec=1747316">Vimeo</a>.
<p>Received this <a href="http://flowingdata.com/2008/09/23/beautiful-generative-computer-art-metamorphosis/">link</a>/video from Stefan Klocek, inspired by talks we've been having about how best to create a multimedia experience out of the written word. This has no words, but the generative artwork is beautiful. I can see this being powered by displayed words, or vice versa.   </p><p>From the link:</p><blockquote><p>Glenn Marshall has released his finished version of <a href="http://glennmarshall.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/metamorphosis/" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/glennmarshall.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/metamorphosis/');">Metamorphosis</a>, a beautiful piece of computer generative art programmed in <a href="http://processing.org/" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/processing.org');">Processing</a>. I wish I knew a bit more about what I was seeing, but I can only guess that the branches and butterflies follow certain laws of nature and rules defined by the music (I hope). Nevertheless, it's beautiful. Here's the video below, but go to Vimeo to watch the video in all it's HD glory.</p></blockquote>
05:27 PM | 0 Comments | Tags: , , ,
<object width="440" height="356"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LJgCLq4Qo6A&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LJgCLq4Qo6A&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="440" height="356"></embed></object>
<p>I would've loved to see the brainstorming ideas that this came from. Thanks <a href="http://eplay.typepad.com/eplay_online_sports_fanta/2008/09/hondas-musical.html">buzzfeed</a>.</p><blockquote>Honda of America created a unique marketing event for the drivers who travel over a specific road in Lancaster, CA. Like a phonograph record, grooves in the road, when driven over by a car intones a passage from the William Tell Overture. Created as a promotion for the Honda Civic- there are only four in the world, and the only one in the USA- But alas- neighbors near the road have complained, and the City of Lancaster says they will repave the road on Tuesday Sept. 23.</blockquote><p> </p>
05:17 PM | 0 Comments | Tags: ,
September 19
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<p>Screen-printers <a href="http://deadbeatsister.com/" target="_blank">Deadbeatsister</a>, will be selling their sweet custom-printed wares at this weekend's <a href="http://www.treasureislandfestival.com">Treasure Island Music Festival</a> in San Francisco. They make these in the shack in my backyard. Not joking. And artist friend <a href="www.hiredmeat.com">Dave Crosland</a> helps with the designs.  </p><p>For more information, here's her email blast:</p><blockquote><p>Hey Deadbeaties!<br /><br />This weekend marks the return of that magical music festival in the Bay, <a href="http://treasureislandfestival.com/index" target="_blank">Treasure Island</a>. Deadbeatsister will be set up in the Treasure Chest area with the Indie Mart crew, sharing our pirate's booty with the masses. <br /> <br />We've been scampering like scallywags to get ready for this show. So many new designs to check out...all hand printed with love on soft tees, scarves, dresses, and anything else we could find. <strong style="color: #000066">Hall & Oates '08</strong> tees are back in stock just in time for the upcoming election. And this weekend we're debuting our newest gear for fall--the <font size="1" style="color: #000066"><strong>Meta Hoodie</strong></font><font size="1"><span style="color: #000066">,</span></font> printed on super-soft and comfy zip-up hoodies.<br /> <br />As a special appreciation to all you loyal Deadbeatsister supporters (and with love to CSS),<font size="2"><strong style="color: #000066"> come by our table and say "Music is my Hot Hot Sex!" </strong><span style="color: #000000"><font size="1">for 5 bux off any t-shirt, hoodie, dress, or whatever strikes your fancy. <br /> <br /></font></span></font>We can't think of a better way to spend the weekend than hanging out on a man-made island with some of the best damn indie acts around.</p></blockquote>
10:29 AM | 0 Comments | Tags: , ,
September 18

Nick Cave on editing (for The Road)

<p> <img class="left" src="http://www.slambridis.com/chyrp/upload/roadspan.jpg" border="0" width="500" /> </p> <p>From <a href="http://io9.com/5051546/nick-cave-%252B-the-road--most-depressingly-beautiful-movie-score-ever">io9</a>: Nick Cave is doing the score for the film adaptation of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Road-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/0307387895/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221768062&sr=8-2">Cormac McCarthy's The Road</a> (Did I really just link to Oprah's book club?). Fuck yeah. But enthusiasm aside, here's what Nick had to say about his writing and editing process. I can relate. And that makes me feel good about all the toiling, and it should make you feel good too. </p><blockquote><p>It’s how I write: A song that’s maybe five to six verses long, I write 20 verses and then I chop, chop, chop, chop. That’s always been the case. I can’t let something go until it’s exhausted, so I have to edit. I’m always editing. I find editing hugely exciting. Taking something away from something can do extraordinary things, whether it’s music or writing or in a film. In film, it’s extraordinary what happens. We’re working on “The Road,” and a new edit gets sent every three days or so and your way of seeing can completely change from it, from just leaving a lingering look for three seconds longer or something like that. It’s very much the same thing with lyrics and music in general. </p></blockquote>
01:05 PM | 0 Comments | Tags: , ,
September 11

NIN show features innovative lights and video

<p> <img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/scott.lambridis/SMioy_5GxvI/AAAAAAAAF-8/9dFrtDoEAZQ/s400/IMG_2567.jpg" border="0" /> </p><p> The <a href="http://www.nin.com">NIN</a> show last week, aside from being one of the best shows I've ever seen, also had the most innovative use of lights and video that I've ever seen. It started with a wall of moving lights behind them that could put strong simple images behind the band and a helluva lot of wattage such as: </p><p><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/scott.lambridis/SMio5dBhHiI/AAAAAAAAF_8/3-xpEwkC4Xw/s400/IMG_2577.jpg" border="0" /></p><p><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/scott.lambridis/SMio2jMIraI/AAAAAAAAF_k/xP6JUQpeisk/s400/IMG_2573.jpg" border="0" /></p><p> But then, down came a transparent screen with thousands of individual LED lights which created interesting pixellations and changing the stage dimensions, as below. </p><p><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/scott.lambridis/SMio_f60z9I/AAAAAAAAGAo/GPb7uNhH0QA/s400/IMG_2583.jpg" border="0" /></p><p> <img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/scott.lambridis/SMipDlITQJI/AAAAAAAAGBI/Wv3hJM7DiP8/s400/IMG_2589.jpg" border="0" /></p><p> <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/scott.lambridis/SMipG3XLEiI/AAAAAAAAGBY/eAg8PxDPRV8/s400/IMG_2594.jpg" border="0" /> </p><p>But what if you introduce a second transparent screen covered with LED lights, and put them at varying heights and depth, creating an entire stage scene? Notice that at this point, they're playing a jazz kit, stand-up bass, mandolin, and yes, Trent on marimbas. Faaaantastic. I love how Trent is slowly acclimatizing his fans to new musics and instrumentations, which should allow him to still keep his fans as he ages. Whether intentional or not, it represents a good grasp on psychology. Regardless, these scenes are beautiful, and at one point looked like they were covered in pouring rain (though I didn't really nail that shot): </p><p><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/scott.lambridis/SMipLVJlUhI/AAAAAAAAGBo/H4TzmEdKGnU/s400/IMG_2596.jpg" border="0" /></p><p> <img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/scott.lambridis/SMipQtQHYiI/AAAAAAAAGCA/gs5Pb6By39E/s400/IMG_2600.jpg" border="0" /></p><p> <img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/scott.lambridis/SMipTio2j9I/AAAAAAAAGCU/2JG7hfNOFI8/s400/IMG_2602.jpg" border="0" /></p><p> <img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/scott.lambridis/SMipVeAG8cI/AAAAAAAAGCc/cBmwm-ecAfY/s400/IMG_2605.jpg" border="0" /> </p><p>Screens up, they started using them in a way that reminded me of Roger Water's concepts of closeness and separation that inspired <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=3&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FThe_Wall&ei=_YTJSITcCJmWsAPVpMiWBg&usg=AFQjCNGrnLAY-GgZegjcxSfJr5keD83EiQ&sig2=WKfhrhc3PBoaHOmpo7HQsw">The Wall</a>. Here the digital curtains are reacting instantaneously to Trents motions behind them.</p><p> <img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/scott.lambridis/SMipX2dBEfI/AAAAAAAAGCs/TZUnWvJVa9Y/s400/IMG_2607.jpg" border="0" /> </p><p> Gotta love the sea of cellphones.</p><p> <img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/scott.lambridis/SMipb2HlBMI/AAAAAAAAGDE/TPEezSLQR-4/s400/IMG_2611.jpg" border="0" /> </p><p>And to top it off, they used the screens to create a visualization of their drum machines. Band members actually got up, pressed the boxes to turn on beats, and you could see the bright white beat moving across and reacting. I've never seen anything quite like that before. </p><p><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/scott.lambridis/SMipehIM6_I/AAAAAAAAGDU/_MTp6DbxChs/s400/IMG_2613.jpg" border="0" /></p><p> And finally, a simple use of the LEDs and lights together to create a scene that felt like it had real dimension, mimicking their <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FYear_Zero_(album)&ei=EYXJSJjkOJ-WsQOY7ZSPBg&usg=AFQjCNGiKU3lqAi9_GeiU3ZmAhoqmqVjiw&sig2=l7zymYD-G1v1z1XrkYuuVg">Year Zero</a> album backcover. </p><p><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/scott.lambridis/SMipgkloyzI/AAAAAAAAGDs/2bBCB0W3-jE/s400/IMG_2617.jpg" border="0" /></p><p> Why am I showing this? Because they're pushing the boundaries of how lights and video should interact with the band, stage, and music. We're all used to seeing neat eye candy at live shows, but it's usually just that: candy to make you go "ooo" and give you something to look at while you listen. It sets a mood, and often changes timing with the pace of the music. But this is well beyond that. The lights and video were part of the band, and the stage. It reacted directly to both the music and the band members, and actually became immersive. It was like quite literally seeing the album art come alive onstage, so it became part of the storytelling. I wouldn't be surprised if crowd interaction became part of it next. Good show, fellas. </p>
01:55 PM | 3 Comments | Tags: , , , ,
August 13
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Great <a href="http://www.eastbayexpress.com/news/writerschyrp_unblocked/Content?oid=803416" target="_blank">article</a> in the <a href="http://www.eastbayexpress.com" target="_blank">East Bay Express</a> about the <a href="http://ics-hub.org/" target="_blank">Immersion Composition Society</a> which "helps musicians overcome creative hurdles". Indeed. Definitely worth a read if you're doing anything at all creative. If this doesn't get you inspired, you probably don't respond to pokes from a stick either. <div class="photoCont"> </div><div class="photoCont">And dude, they have a crest! How cool is that? <br /></div>
09:03 AM | 0 Comments | Tags: , ,
July 16
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<p>MotherJones.com posted this playlist from actual information. Barney theme song? Check. Meow Mix jingle? Check. Further proof there is a god and that he offed himself centuries ago. Also of note, is the prevalence of American-themed classics, such as Springsteen's Born in the USA, and Don MacLean's American Pie. Yet no James Taylor. Clearly they haven't discovered my breaking point yet.</p><p>So, why am I posting this here? Um...because the creative act of music is being used as torture. Fiction or non-fiction, that's powerful stuff. Can't you just picture this being in a Vonnegut book? Or my attempt at writing a Vonnegut book? Yes. Yes you can. Oh what fun designing that playlist. </p>
03:21 PM | 0 Comments | Tags: , ,
June 20
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June 19
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David Byrne's (of the Talking Heads) recent installation in NYC where literally wires up a building to a pump organ and plays the bitch. I've always thought this sort of thing would be so fun. Banjo & I used to do things like this, though obviously not to this scale, and ok, probably more in our imagination, back in our Wigglepussy days.  <a href="http://www.davidbyrne.com/art/art_projects/playing_the_building/index.php" target="_blank">» Link</a>
03:17 PM | 0 Comments | Tags: , ,
June 06
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